Following an executive order from the Trump administration that promotes production of glyphosate, some Democrats have claimed that the herbicide causes cancer. The science, however, is nuanced. While there is some evidence linking glyphosate to cancers in lab animals or to the blood cancer non-Hodgkin lymphoma in agricultural workers, the findings have been inconsistent.
Regulatory agencies around the world, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have concluded glyphosate is unlikely to pose carcinogenic risks.
In a Feb. 18 executive order, President Donald Trump promoted production of glyphosate-based herbicides — originated in 1974 by Monsanto as the weedkiller Roundup — as necessary for national security. The move was widely viewed as counter to the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement, which generally opposes pesticides, and prominently glyphosate. Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, is the only company that makes glyphosate in the U.S., although there are also imported generic versions.
